Chap. 124 - God's Care for His Work

It was under circumstances of difficulty and discouragement that Isaiah,
while yet a young man, was called to the prophetic mission. Disaster was
threatening his country. By their transgression of God's law the people of Judah
had forfeited His protection, and the Assyrian forces were about to come against
the kingdom of Judah. But the danger from their enemies was not the greatest
trouble. It was the perversity of the people that brought upon the Lord's
servant the deepest depression. By their apostasy and rebellion they were
inviting the judgments of God. The youthful prophet had

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been called to bear to them a message of warning, and he knew that he would
meet with obstinate resistance. He trembled as he viewed himself and thought of
the stubbornness and unbelief of the people for whom he was to labour. His task
seemed to him almost hopeless. Should he in despair relinquish his mission and
leave Israel undisturbed to their idolatry? Were the gods of Nineveh to rule the
earth in defiance of the God of heaven?

Such thoughts as these were crowding upon his mind as he stood under the
portico of the holy temple. Suddenly the gate and the inner veil of the temple
seemed to be uplifted or withdrawn, and he was permitted to gaze within, upon
the holy of holies, where even the prophet's feet might not enter. There rose up
before him a vision of Jehovah sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, while
His train filled the temple. On each side the throne hovered the seraphim, two
wings bearing them up, two veiling their faces in adoration, and two covering
their feet. These angel ministers lifted up their voices in solemn invocation,
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory,"
until post and pillar and cedar gate seemed to tremble at the sound, and the
house was filled with their praise.

Never before had Isaiah realized so fully the greatness of Jehovah or His
perfect holiness; and he felt that in his human frailty and unworthiness he must
perish in that divine presence. "Woe is me!" he cried; "for I am undone; because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." But a seraph came to
him to fit him for his great mission. A living coal from the altar was laid upon
his lips with the words: "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is
taken away, and thy sin purged." And when the voice of God was heard saying,
"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah with holy confidence
responded, "Here am I; send me."

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What though earthly powers should be arrayed against Judah? What though
Isaiah should meet with opposition and resistance in his mission? He had seen
the King, the Lord of hosts; he had heard the song of the seraphim, "The whole
earth is full of His glory;" and the prophet was nerved for the work before him.
The memory of this vision was carried with him throughout his long and arduous
mission.

Ezekiel, the mourning exile prophet, in the land of the Chaldeans, was given
a vision teaching the same lesson of faith in the mighty God of Israel. As he
was upon the banks of the river Chebar, a whirlwind seemed to come from the
north, "a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about
it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber." A number of wheels of
strange appearance, intersecting one another, were moved by four living
creatures. High above all these was "the likeness of a throne, as the appearance
of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the
appearance of a man above upon it." "As for the likeness of the living
creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the
appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the
fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning." "And there appeared
in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings."

There were wheels within wheels in an arrangement so complicated that at
first sight they appeared to Ezekiel to be all in confusion. But when they
moved, it was with beautiful exactness and in perfect harmony. Heavenly beings
were impelling these wheels, and, above all, upon the glorious sapphire throne,
was the Eternal One; while round about the throne was the encircling rainbow,
emblem of grace and love. Overpowered by the terrible glory of the scene,
Ezekiel fell upon his face, when a voice bade him arise and hear the word of the
Lord. Then there was given him a message of warning for Israel.

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This vision was given to Ezekiel at a time when his mind was filled with
gloomy forebodings. He saw the land of his fathers lying desolate. The city that
was once full of people was no longer inhabited. The voice of mirth and the song
of praise were no more heard within her walls. The prophet himself was a
stranger in a strange land, where boundless ambition and savage cruelty reigned
supreme. That which he saw and heard of human tyranny and wrong distressed his
soul, and he mourned bitterly day and night. But the wonderful symbols presented
before him beside the river Chebar revealed an overruling power mightier than
that of earthly rulers. Above the proud and cruel monarchs of Assyria and
Babylon the God of mercy and truth was enthroned.

The wheellike complications that appeared to the prophet to be involved in
such confusion were under the guidance of an infinite hand. The Spirit of God,
revealed to him as moving and directing these wheels, brought harmony out of
confusion; so the whole world was under His control. Myriads of glorified beings
were ready at His word to overrule the power and policy of evil men, and bring
good to His faithful ones.

In like manner, when God was about to open to the beloved John the history of
the church for future ages, He gave him an assurance of the Saviour's interest
and care for His people by revealing to him "One like unto the Son of man,"
walking among the candlesticks, which symbolized the seven churches. While John
was shown the last great struggles of the church with earthly powers, he was
also permitted to behold the final victory and deliverance of the faithful. He
saw the church brought into deadly conflict with the beast and his image, and
the worship of that beast enforced on pain of death. But looking beyond the
smoke and din of the battle, he beheld a company upon Mount Zion with the Lamb,
having, instead of the mark of the beast, the "Father's name written in their
foreheads." And again he saw "them that had gotten the victory over the beast,
and over his image, and

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over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass,
having the harps of God" and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.

These lessons are for our benefit. We need to stay our faith upon God, for
there is just before us a time that will try men's souls. Christ, upon the Mount
of Olives, rehearsed the fearful judgments that were to precede His second
coming: "Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars." "Nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of
sorrows." While these prophecies received a partial fulfilment at the
destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application to the last days.

We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecy is fast
fulfilling. The Lord is at the door. There is soon to open before us a period of
overwhelming interest to all living. The controversies of the past are to be
revived; new controversies will arise. The scenes to be enacted in our world are
not yet even dreamed of. Satan is at work through human agencies. Those who are
making an effort to change the Constitution and secure a law enforcing Sunday
observance little realize what will be the result. A crisis is just upon us.

But God's servants are not to trust to themselves in this great emergency. In
the visions given to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, and to John we see how closely heaven
is connected with the events taking place upon the earth and how great is the
care of God for those who are loyal to Him. The world is not without a ruler.
The program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord. The Majesty of heaven
has the destiny of nations, as well as the concerns of His church, in His own
charge.

We permit ourselves to feel altogether too much care, trouble, and perplexity
in the Lord's work. Finite men are not left to carry the burden of
responsibility. We need to

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trust in God, believe in Him, and go forward. The tireless vigilance of the
heavenly messengers, and their unceasing employment in their ministry in
connection with the beings of earth, show us how God's hand is guiding the wheel
within a wheel. The divine Instructor is saying to every actor in His work, as
He said to Cyrus of old: "I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me."

In Ezekiel's vision God had His hand beneath the wings of the cherubim. This
is to teach His servants that it is divine power that gives them success. He
will work with them if they will put away iniquity and become pure in heart and
life.

The bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of
lightning represents the speed with which this work will finally go forward to
completion. He who slumbers not, who is continually at work for the
accomplishment of His designs, can carry forward His great work harmoniously.
That which appears to finite minds entangled and complicated, the Lord's hand
can keep in perfect order. He can devise ways and means to thwart the purposes
of wicked men, and He will bring to confusion the counsels of them that plot
mischief against His people.

Brethren, it is no time now for mourning and despair, no time to yield to
doubt and unbelief. Christ is not now a Saviour in Joseph's new tomb, closed
with a great stone and sealed with the Roman seal; we have a risen Saviour. He
is the King, the Lord of hosts; He sitteth between the cherubim; and amid the
strife and tumult of nations He guards His people still. He who ruleth in the
heavens is our Saviour. He measures every trial. He watches the furnace fire
that must test every soul. When the strongholds of kings shall be overthrown,
when the arrows of God's wrath shall strike through the hearts of His enemies,
His people will be safe in His hands.